73110 - University of Texas at Austin



Taken for CEU credit

Scholastic Journalism / Summer 2011

Director: George Sylvie

Course Description: Our objective is to enable participants to help high school students start a campus newspaper, or improve an existing newspaper, and enhance the teaching of journalism and First Amendment issues. Participants will focus on the core values of journalism and the skills needed to produce a successful scholastic newspaper. We also will provide the context for understanding the press’s role in society and, as importantly, provide direction on how to teach the material presented. Specifically, participants may use course materials and lectures to develop a curriculum guide that will allow them to plan, organize, outline and administer a high school journalism course of study.

In a large-scale effort to revitalize scholastic journalism, the American Society of Newspaper Editors has chosen the University of Texas School of Journalism to administer a two-week summer institute for high school teachers committed to advising student newspapers. With about 900 members, ASNE is the principal organization of the top editors at daily American newspapers. Led and designed by our journalism faculty, the Texas High School Journalism Institute will take place on the UT Austin campus, from June 19th to July 1st, with more than 30 teachers recruited from around the country. Our program also will include representatives from the journalism professional community and feature a strong conceptual context for understanding press issues along with applied journalistic skills.

The Institute’s overall goals are:

• Producing teachers who are better informed about the operations, practices, news values and ethical decision-making in the craft of journalism.

• Imparting or enhancing the writing, editing, layout, photo and graphics skills that teachers need to better advise students and to start or strengthen a school newspaper. In addition, the business-side skills to enable a student newspaper to operate independently will be discussed.

• Shifting the focus of many high school newspapers to fair and balanced news reporting and writing rather than essay writing, public relations and opinion pieces.

• Instilling a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the First Amendment.

An important goal is high participation of teachers from school districts where journalism programs have disappeared or are under stress. “High school is the single most important point for generating interest in journalism as a career, particularly participation on a high school newspaper,” said Susan Bischoff, 2000-02 chair of ASNE’s Education for Journalism Committee and deputy managing editor of the Houston Chronicle. “The high school years also offer the last best opportunity for instilling in large numbers of people the value of a free press to society, regardless of career choices.”

Texts: All those materials distributed at the Austin Institute as well as those mailed to you by ASNE. Other readings will be assigned as appropriate. The Website contains a list of the books, subscriptions and memberships that will be given to each student. In addition, reading assignments that were to be completed prior to the institute are listed on the Web site. A binder and Web resources also will be distributed at the start of the Institute.

The final project (see below) is due by Aug. 1, 2011 and should be submitted to Prof. Sylvie.

Final Project: Write a 6-page, double-spaced, typed paper developing curriculum applicable to your high school setting. Develop two curriculum units/lesson plans (included in the page limit above). These will be due by Aug. 1, and will be edited for posting on the Institute Web site.

The paper should contain a general introduction providing the context for your curriculum. This will include a justification of the importance of the topics you have selected to the overall project of teaching high school journalism, and their application to your specific school environment. You should provide a description of the specific community and school, as well as the students targeted. You may include your personal experience and challenges. This will help readers and other teachers understand your specific context.

In a background section, incorporate any relevant readings and material from the Institute sessions, which you will cite and reference in your bibliography as appropriate. Feel free to include Websites that are appropriate. This section should show how your units contribute to more effective teaching of the chosen topics.

A number of ideas for educational objectives, activities and assessment are included in the following examples:

Each 1 to 2 page (part of the total above) unit/plan should include the following:

1. The Institute session(s) source as relevant

2. Key theme, topic of unit

3. Overview and rationale for unit (a paragraph)

4. Goals for understanding (can be related to state objectives, such as TEKS, as appropriate):

a. Essential Questions: Focus of the topic, what is most important to understand, short, open-ended, the question to which this material is the answer (e.g, What is censorship? What makes news?)

b. Critical Engagement Questions: Focus of the unit, smaller piece of topic, more specific, connects students to essential question (e.g., GT: The news; EQ: What makes news?; CEQ: What criteria are used to determine the news?)

5. Activities (Performances of understanding): Understanding as performance vs. mental state, focus on what students do, give them opportunity to build and demonstrate understanding

6. Assessment

7. Recommended readings and sources

8. Contact: your name and contact information

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download